


The Fall of Hosnian Prime

by Zoe_Dameron



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Bonding, Disappointment, Drinking, Force Choking, Friendship/Love, M/M, Obsession, Overreaction, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 08:49:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14328885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoe_Dameron/pseuds/Zoe_Dameron
Summary: On his way to begin training with his uncle, Ben Solo stops by Republic City on Hosnian Prime to stay with his old friend Poe Dameron.





	The Fall of Hosnian Prime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [persephassax](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephassax/gifts).



> For the overwhelmingly talented [persephassax](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephassax/pseuds/persephassax), who deserved a far better story than what I was able to provide here. <3

**_30 ABY_ **

Ben was already waiting outside of his room, bags packed and arms crossed in front of his door when Han went to retrieve him. They were minutes away from what Han knew would be a long time before they saw each other again, and he was sure he’d hate himself forever if he didn’t see his son off.

“Chewie’s setting us down so I thought I’d come help you get your things together. But, uh, looks like you’re, um, all ready to go there, huh.”

Ben rolled his eyes dismissively.

“Well, uh, you looking forward to your last night of normal life before Luke starts talking your ear off about that Force mumbo-jumbo?” Han asked, finding a place along the wall across from his son, trying to put himself in the best position to eventually stumble into eye contact.

“You know I hate Republic City. Too many people,” Ben muttered, in a tone his father was more than familiar with.

“Yeah. I know. But you’re staying with that Dameron kid, right? The one with the weird name? Always liked him. So does your mother. Kid’s gonna be a great pilot. Roe or something? Roe Dameron?”

“Poe.”

“Right, Poe. _Poe_. Don’t know what Kes and Shara were thinking with that name but he’s a good kid.”

Honestly, Han could’ve kept talking, could’ve added to the immeasurable distance between them in a messy effort to draw them closer, but he decided against it. This time he was okay with the awkward silence that been their relationship.

If there was one thing that had defined Han Solo throughout his life, something beyond the Kessel Run or falling in with a Jedi or marrying a Princess, it was his inexplicable ability to clumsily charm his way out of tight situations. Made him a damn good smuggler, a decent flirt, an excellent negotiator, and a solid ally to have covering your back. His charisma had worked on Leia for a while, longer than either of them had honestly expected. But when it came to Ben the two just never found common ground. Nothing was ever just _easy_ between them.

Han loved his son, but he didn’t understand him. Never did.

If Ben didn’t want to talk, Han wasn’t about to make him.

He settled for a hand on his son’s shoulder instead of a hug. “Alright, kiddo. We’re here.”

\---

“Ben! You finally made it!”

Poe’s brilliant smile was there to greet Ben at the bottom of the ramp when the Falcon finally landed at Hosnian Prime’s busiest port, just next to the New Republic Academy. Ben couldn’t help but notice how different Poe’s hair was now; Ben had been used to the curly hair that was almost as long and dark as his own, not… _this_. It looked too military, too prim for the boy Ben knew who spent just as much time in the weeds and the mud as he did in the sky. Still, this was _Poe_ , so he pulled something close to a smile as Poe ran up the ramp to practically tackle him with a hug.

“So happy you’re here!” Poe laughed, throwing his arms around his old friend. “Let me help you with your bags. How was the trip? Where’s your dad? What would you like to do tonight?”

For as vast and populated as their galaxy was, Ben Solo could count on one hand the number of beings he could stand to spend any stretch of time with. One was a small plant he had found in a field and potted and left next to his bedroom window back home. Another was an all-black loth-cat he named Zap that his mother had given him on Life Day when he was five. Another was Chewie, who had always seemed to understand Ben’s need for space and quiet but also knew that sometimes you needed yell as loud as you felt like yelling. And then there was Poe Dameron, who was far more talkative than all of them put together but in a way that never made Ben feel like he was being pitied or misunderstood.

Swinging both bags over his shoulders despite Ben’s insistence that he could carry his luggage himself, Poe led them through the bustling streets of Republic City, just down two blocks and over one from where the Falcon had landed.

Ben had always hated crowds and how overwhelmingly _loud_ and _constant_ they were with their mouths, which only added to the dull roar of the Force energy pushing and pulling between them. Their thoughts were almost deafening. He could only stand being around so many people if Poe was there; it gave Ben something to focus on, a familiar warmth he knew he could trust.

“So, how long do we have?” Poe asked, leading them through the doors of the Academy dormitory. “There’s so much I want to show you!”

“I need to be back at the port tomorrow at 1700 hours to catch the shuttle to Kashyyyk,” Ben replied, quiet.

Poe slowed down enough for Ben to see his disappointed face. “We only have a _day_? Pfassk that. You should’ve come sooner.”

The dormitory was large on the outside, standard Core-style architecture with massive columns and arches and all of it chiseled impossibly out of opulent stone, but Poe’s quarters were smaller than Ben expected. A window above the bed with a modest view of some distant tower, a desk, and a cubby for a closet. No special accommodations for the children of war heroes. The two would be practically sleeping on top of each other, not that Ben minded. He was just thankful Poe hadn’t been assigned a roommate yet.

“It’s… nice,” he offered, practically hitting his head on the door frame as he entered.

Poe laughed. “Hey, it’s home, right? And now that you’re here it’s perfect,” he added throwing in a wink.

Ben tried not to blush. Poe flirted with everyone. He was just like that. It didn’t mean anything. If it did, there had been more than enough chances for Poe to make a move. Surely he could tell how Ben felt, even if Ben had never come out and said it. Surely Poe knew.

“You can take the bed. There’s no way I’m letting Alderaanian royalty sleep on the floor,” Poe said, dodging the shirt Ben playfully threw at his head.

“You say that every time, Dameron!” Ben replied, smiling naturally for the first time in a long time.

“Well, if you ever stop being the son of a Princess we can reevaluate the sleeping situation, okay?” Poe winked at him again and Ben felt like he could melt into a puddle all over Poe’s floor. “Anything specific you wanted to do or see tonight? The second wave of cadets just showed up a few days ago and class doesn’t start again for another week, so it’s basically been a non-stop party for the Core kids who never got out much back home.”

Poe’s guitar was resting near the bed and Ben grabbed it and handed it over to him. “Play me something while I unpack?”

“Sure thing, buddy.”

“I’ve never been much for parties,” Ben began, hesitantly. “But I’m about to spend the next however-many cycles learning about meditation and living in a hut with a bunk of monks, so… maybe that’d be fun.”

Beside him on the floor, Poe nodded in understanding as he strummed away at a beautiful song Ben recognized from when they were kids.

“Sounds good. There’s a small cantina about eight blocks from here, which is too far than most of these fresh green kids bother with. It’s dark and quiet and they usually have a lounge singer that I think you’d really like.“

“That works,” Ben replied, mustering up his courage. “As long as we can talk. There’s something I’ve been meaning to–“

His explanation was cut short by a knock at the door, and Poe hopped up to answer it. “Hold that thought, buddy, just one second.”

Ben took a step back behind Poe as the door slid open. Waiting on the other side was a man who looked quite similar to Poe, around the same height but with lighter skin and brown hair. If Ben had to guess, he’d wager the man was from Yavin IV as well.

“Muran!” Poe shouted, clapping the man on the shoulder in excitement. “I thought you were headed off-world for break? Come in, come in.”

The two were all smiles and Ben felt a twinge of resentment at this _stranger_ just wandering in unannounced into _their_ room.

“Eh, ma’ didn’t know if she could scrounge up the credits for such a short trip. Especially when I’d be back in a few cycles anyway.”

Ben stepped forward out of the shadows awkwardly. “I have the credits. If you need them I have more than enough to cover your flight home.” He hated this man, this “ _Muran_ ”. Who did he think he was? Why did Poe smile like that when he looked at him? Poe was only supposed to smile like that at _Ben_.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry. Ben, this is Muran, we’re in flight training together. Muran, this is Ben. He’s a friend from back home. Our parents flew together in the war and he’s here for the night before he heads to Kashyyyk to become a Jedi.”

“A Jedi? Wow!” Muran replied in a charming but semi-exaggerated way that made Ben want to throw him across the room. “Nice to meet you, Ben the Jedi.” The man reached out a hand which Ben reluctantly accepted, dredging up a fake smile he usually saved for royal events and the insufferable people that attended them. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Poe shook his head. “We were actually just trying to decide where we’d like to go tonight. I was thinking The Blue Door. It’s quiet and no one really goes out there.”

“Yeah,” Muran laughed, “No one really goes out there because it’s boring. What about Feist? They give a discount to anyone in uniform.”

“Actually, I think Ben and I were going to keep it low-key tonight,” Poe offered, looking over at Ben to gauge his reaction. “I’m not feeling 100% so something with fewer people around was the goal.”

Ben watched the way the two interacted, effortlessly close and comfortable with one another despite Poe never mentioning him even once when Ben would call. He had always assumed that he had something special with Dameron, even if it wasn’t… _more_ than that. He’d seen what “more than that” looked like when Poe had dated people, and this was sickeningly close. Ben wanted to throw up.

“Let’s go to Feist,” Ben replied, staring straight at Muran, trying to avoid the confused and wary look Poe was giving him. “I’d love to see what you people do for fun around here.” His words were thick with disdain but Muran didn’t seem to pick up on it.

“Great! It’s settled! Grab your coat, Dameron. We’re getting Ben the Jedi _wasted_ tonight.”  

As much as he found the name amusing, Feist was exactly as horrible as Ben had imagined, packed wall-to-wall with sloppy, inebriated people who yelled their conversations. The six of them (another couple of Poe’s friends had caught them on the way out and tagged along) had been able to score a booth, but it was cramped, and he was sandwiched between Poe and one of the girls. She kept leaning in to Ben to talk to the other girl across the booth and he felt claustrophobic and overwhelmed. The drink Poe had ordered him didn’t help, just made him feel unbalanced. He didn’t like how it made his lips tingle, either.

Through all of the chaos Ben tried to center himself, tried to focus on the good times he and Poe had. Always just the two of them, talking for hours in Poe’s room or trying to make music happen between their guitars. He had never really liked sharing Poe with anyone else, had never even thought about what Poe did when he wasn’t around. Ben had made a space for Dameron that was just for him. Seeing him now, like this, with these strangers, it was… it was different. And wrong. He hated it. He didn’t belong there.

He looked over at the girl to his left that was boxing him in to the booth, gesturing to her that he needed to get out. To his surprise, Poe followed him.

“Hey buddy, where you going? Do you need another drink?”

Ben shook his head. “This was a mistake. I’m leaving. I’m going back to your room for the night.”

Poe looked crushed, his smile fading almost instantly. “It’s too much, you’re right. I’m so sorry for how this night turned out but there’s still lots of time left for something else. You said you wanted to talk, right? Let me pay the tab and tell everyone we’re going, and–”

“It’s fine, Dameron. You’re having a good time. I’m not going to make you sit in the dark with me when you could be out having fun.”

“Ben, don’t. It’s not like that at all,” Poe replied, eyes pleading but insistent.

“It is. And it’s fine.” Poe moved to argue but Ben grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him close. “It’s fine. You’ll stay here and I will go back to the dorm.” His words were laced with Force compulsion to drive the point home.

Poe’s eyes went glassy for a fraction of a second as he processed the command, then he turned up to look at Ben. “It’s fine. I’ll stay here and you’ll go back to the dorm. And we can get breakfast in the morning, okay? Just the two of us.”

After seeing the way Poe interacted with his peers, those words meant so much less to Ben now. Ben wasn’t special, Poe just treated him like he was, because Poe treated everyone like they were special. Ben felt like a fool.

“Sure, Dameron. Have fun.”

He returned to the dormitory and packed his things, sick with the idea of Poe sleeping somewhere else that night, only coming back to gather Ben for what would undoubtedly be a terrible cafeteria-style breakfast. Taking one last look around Poe’s room, he buried the childish notion of it ever becoming Poe and Ben’s room, and locked the door behind him.

He chartered a last-minute flight to Kashyyyk and never called Poe again.

\---

**_34 ABY, Starkiller Base_ **

“Sir, with all due respect, Coruscant is an excellent target for Starkiller’s weapon system. It was the beginning of the Rebel Alliance and would make a good show for the Resistance and Republic without giving away the limited range of the weapon’s capabilities.”

Kylo turned calmly to General Wau, raising a hand and relishing in the wet, desperate sounds he crushed out of the man as he choked him into unconsciousness.

“Does anyone else have any other objections or bright ideas? Anything they’d like to add?” He let the question hang in the silence of the room, looking over at General Hux and practically goading him into responding.

“No, sir,” they all replied.

“Good. We target the Hosnian System. I want it _gone_.”

**Author's Note:**

> I based Muran off of Pedro Pascal because the internet literally offers nothing when it comes to that character. <3


End file.
